Soap is an incredibly useful household item in your everyday life, but it can be even more so when SHTF. If you happen to find yourself in a survival situation where sanitation is crucial to halting the spread of infection, you probably won't be able to just walk into your local grocery store to purchase a bottle of hand soap. Furthermore, even if a large-scale disaster hasn't happened and society is still operating as usual, you might not even want to buy manufactured soap. Not only is it more cost-efficient to make your own DIY liquid hand soap, but store-bought soaps and laundry detergents could potentially contain toxic chemicals that you might not even be aware of. However you plan to use your soap, you should first learn how to make it. Here is a simple guide to making your own DIY liquid hand soap and laundry soap. (h/t to NewLifeOnAHomestead.com.)
DIY liquid hand soap is surprisingly easy to make that you might find yourself wondering why you ever even bothered with store-bought soaps. The great thing about DIY liquid hand soap is its versatility. Store-bought soaps tend to be designed for a specific purpose. However, since you get to make your own soap to suit your own personal needs, you are free to customize it however you want. You can make use of different ingredients in varying amounts that you probably won't find in store-bought soaps. You can even make a few adjustments to the recipe to have it serve as your own shampoo, conditioner, body wash, dish washing or laundry soap. Laundry detergents often use harsh chemicals to clean clothing, but you can make your own laundry soap using only natural ingredients that can be tender on both your skin and clothes. (Related: How to make your own laundry soap.)
One of the most highly recommended natural types of soap to make is Castile soap. It originated from Castile, Spain, and is an alkaline type of soap. This olive-oil based soap is non-toxic and biodegradable. Other suitable alternatives to Castile soap include goat's milk, coconut oil, canola oil,
How to make your own DIY liquid hand soap
Ingredients:
- ½ cup of distilled water
- ½ cup of liquid Castile soap or a suitable alternative
- 1 tablespoon of either olive oil, almond oil, or coconut oil
- 10 drops of lavender essential oil
- 10 drops of tea tree essential oil
- 10 drops of your favorite essential oil, as preferred
- 1 tablespoon of vitamin E, as preferred
Procedure:
- Add the water, oils, and liquid Castile soap or your preferred alternative to a non-metallic bowl. You may also choose to add vitamin E if the soap will be used on dry or damaged skin.
- Mix all the ingredients thoroughly.
- Pour the mixture into a liquid soap dispenser and give it a good shake to avoid settling.
How to make your own DIY laundry soap
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of baking soda
- 1 cup of distilled white vinegar
- ¼ cup of liquid Castile soap
- 1 cup of washing soda
Procedure:
- Pour the baking soda, washing soda, and liquid Castile soap into a non-metallic bowl.
- Mix these ingredients thoroughly
- While stirring the mixture, slowly pour in the distilled white vinegar.
- Continue stirring until the mixture has the consistency of a fairly thick paste.
- Cover the mixture.
- Allow the mixture to sit overnight until it breaks down into a powdered soap form.
- Once it resembles a powdery soap, stir it again to keep it from clumping together.
- Store your soap in an airtight container until you are ready to use it.
- For a large load of laundry, you can use around half a cup of your DIY laundry soap.
Learn how to make other DIY projects for all your prepping needs by going to Preparedness.news.
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